A good soldier
by Ghost rider 1-3
Summary: It has been months since Kanan lost his wife during the battle of Demeter, and he's reluctantly accepted the truth that she's gone. But after he got stranded on the planet Cerberus, he discovers a Ronin Titan that says otherwise.
1. Chapter 1: Blindfold

Disclaimer: I do not own Titanfall or Star Wars Rebels. I do not own the cover image either.

* * *

"Blindfold"

Unknown continent

500 miles from Angel City, planet Cerberus

Kanan lay flat on the sand, his custom-painted helmet missing and his R201 split into half by the concussion hours ago. He blinked slightly, only to realise he has lost half of his sights. As he attempted to get back on his feet he felt a warm liquid running down his ear, and his wound burning fiercely.

He screamed out painfully, but his scream won't be heard by anyone, as the craft transporting him has crashed on a desolate dune on the planet of Cerberus. He managed to muster his energy to sit up straight and turn around to the wreckage of the dropship. Its head was buried within the sand and its tail was burning, with what's left of the fuel inside the engines ignited.

He had no idea who was responsible for shooting down the dropship he was in. All he remember was seeing a prototype imperial battleship painted with English words that spelled IMS Draconis and a barrage of missiles flying towards the squadron of dropships. Kanan reached for his medkit and slapped the first piece of cloth he could grab on his wound. And as he did he couldn't help but cry out in pain. His left eye was now inoperable, rendering him visually impaired.

 _No this can't be. No Titan will ever allow me to link with him._

He struggled back to the militia dropship and salvaged every weapon he could find, while looking for a way to secure his bandage every twenty seconds. He flipped and tossed the bent steel and straps around him, but all he could find was a R97 that will need half a clip to kill an imperial grunt, and three extra clips for his P2016.

 _Glad the ammunition is still in my favour._

After finally strapping his dressing in place, he climbed out of the wreckage with some rations and extra ammo. He landed on his knees as he hopped off the edge of the dropship, but they were protected by his orange and green knee guards that extended to his shin.

He wound still hurts, but it was nothing compared to his loss on Demeter. That was the exact place and battle where he lost his wife, and he's been fighting alone in the Saber Corps for moths, with a few recruits under his command.

He still remembered the times he and his wife fought together on Ryloth, where the two pilots' path crossed. And the times they pulled batteries out of an Atlas Titan and dominated the fuelling stations on Fracture. Afterwards they went from teammates and friends to lovers, despite the fact she wasn't human and had two tentacles extending from her brain, which scared many recruits and riflemen among the 1st militia fleet when she was first inducted into the Saber Corps.

His broken heart to her loss was still hanging over his bones, but he had to move on regardless to his pain. Cerberus didn't earn its name for no reason. The outskirts of the planet was home to the Raiders, a predator that feeds on the flesh of any species, especially humans.

He strolled away from the dropship with his R97 on his back and his recovered helmet clipped to the side of his waist. He put his full attention to the mapping systems in his helmet, but with the skies now dark, he wasn't able to tell north from south.

Kanan marched on for another few hours, not daring to eat his rations despite his instincts urging him to. Pieces of smoking hot steel marked his route to civilisation, a long 300 miles to go before he even reaches the outer regions of the Angel City.

On the way he ran into the feared Cerberus pack, starving for dinner. The Cerberus proved to be a challenge to him, but their size gave Kanan an opportunity to tackle them and use his guns against them.

His energy was dangerously low though. And the only possible mean to keep him alive was to cook the Cerberus corpses. And that's when he took his only break throughout the journey, sitting down on a stone and trying to start a fire with his fire starter.

It took him another half an hour to start a stable fire, but the Cerberus flesh totally made up for the energy loss. He was now capable of walking another few hundred miles, with his rations untouched and sitting inside his tiny backpack above his jumpkit.

He walked on for hours with the nightfall approaching as he marched through the desert. But as he climbed a ridge stretching along the desert the sight below him made him go prone instantly. Imperial drones and grunts filled the plain below, with several dropships and a deactivated green Titan parked beside the grunts.

 _Looks like that Titan is my only hope._

Kanan had no suppressors on his firearms. So a single shot is going to alert the whole camp. He knew he had to pick his shot carefully, but he was hesitant to start with a single grunt. He scanned the are for explosive materials, a technique his old friend Lastimosa taught and demonstrated in front of him during a Gauntlet run.

Right now he has lost half his visual intel, but that didn't stop the SRS pilot from picking a target patrolling near the edge of the campsite. His shot rang across the desert, alarming the troops and Spectres below him.

Kanan swiftly got up and activated his cloaking device after confirming his kill, rendering himself invisible for a few seconds and allowing him to get a new vantage point. The drones below detected the anomaly and hovered further away from the infantry to investigate, allowing Kanan to take down take down them one after another.

He was finally located near an improvised office when he broke the neck of a grunt in front of a squad of imperial soldiers. The remaining drones spat out clusters of ble energy bolts, but none of them were fast enough to reach the pilot before he relocated himself at the other side of the box shaped office.

He was fired upon by several grunts when he tried to move once more, but a few imperial ground troopers weren't a problem to him, even if his eye was crippled. He paced sideways, and aimed for their heads, sending their helmets flying off them and killing them almost instantly.

"Pilot spotted!" A grunt below the slope shouted out. As the garrison approached Kanan, he boldly slid down the slope, ignoring the heavy fire coming at him. The second he touched down he leaped off the ground and double-jumped, rendering several grunts to be disorientated.

With the grunts now crammed together, Kanan pulled out a frag from his vest and pulled off its safety ring, igniting a fireball behind him and giving him sufficient momentum to wallrun on the Vanguard and jumping on another grunt below.

A second imp approached him and kicked his SMG off his hands, but before he could attack him further, the pilot slid his knife stocked on the stomach of his vest and sliced his leg. The grunt fell and pulled out his sidearm in an attempt to take Kanan with him to death, but it was Kanan's turn to snatch his gun, and he was finished off after Kanan fired two rounds into his head.

Kanan examined his newly acquired RE45 quickly and primed it. He spotted a Spectre turning its chassis and aiming its rifle at him. Without a second thought, Kanan aimed his pistol at its thin legs and fired a short but deadly burst into it, tearing its right shin apart and throwing it off balance.

As he launched a kick into the data brain of the Spectre another grunt tried to wrestle him, but was stopped when Kanan countered his jab and stabbed his knife into the stomach of the grunt as many times as he thought he needed. While he was fighting the grunt in front of him, he scanned the area around him for an approximate headcount to judge where he should double jump to next.

And as he did, he noticed a series of green tubes flash in the distance. He was looking at Titan batteries, fully charged ones, that will allow him to activate the captured Vanguard Titan and hopefully, obtain some info that will ensure his survival.

Without another option at hand, he slid underneath the squad of grunts and Spectres and sprinted towards the batteries with all his strength. "That pilot's still alive! Use your Ticks!" He heard a female grunt shout out and turned his weapon at him, unloading shots at her and another couple of troopers with spider-like machines on their hands.

Kanan wasn't exactly the best of all pilots. In fact he was stuck in the middle of the leaderboard on the Gauntlet run, with his comrade Ezra Bridger and a certain Tai Lastimosa constantly competing against him. But he knew well how deadly and effective Ticks were, and without a second thought, he made a run for the batteries without even looking back.

The only grenade he had left was used on the wave of grunts minutes ago, and he was forced to take out the Ticks the hard way. By firing bursts with his full-auto sidearm on two of the self-destruct crawlers, he managed to detonate the rest of the released Ticks by starting a chain reaction within them.

"Kappa three, move in on the batteries!" Another grunt ordered from nowhere, and out of Kanan's sights. At that point there wasn't any grunts or imperial machines in the area, which gave him a moment to catch his breath and install the batteries into the hip of the green and orange striped Titan.

He still needed one more for the Titan to be combat ready, but two would do to him, for now. "Power at two-thirds. Datacore reinitialised. Ocular systems online." Announced the bulking green and orange mech. "Warning. Hostile infantry detected. Transferring power to acolyte pods." It continued as its thin grey arms extended from its back and deployed a pair of missile launchers, shredding the last of the grunts and Spectres moving in towards the duo.

The Titan turned to Kanan after it tore the last Spectre apart. "Activating facial recognition. Name: Kanan Jarrus. Rank: Staff sergeant. Physical status: Visually impaired..." Kanan cut it off before it could blurt out its pre-programmed statements. "Yeah. I know I'm hurt. Who are you?" He asked.

"My serial number is VT-01. I am a prototype Vanguard-class Titan of the Frontier Militia. You may call me VT until you come up with an acceptable nickname." Replied the Titan. "Okay. VT. Catchy name." Commented Kanan as he tossed his RE45, now out of ammo.

"At my current state I am functional, but I will require a third battery to restore my limb motors. If you will, we can ambush the imperial reinforcements and acquire the battery." Said VT. Kanan supported his head with his fist, wondering if he was even capable to counter more imperial forces.

"It is up to...warning. Enemy titanfall detected. 2 miles out and closing." The Titan continued as the sound of thruster engines grew louder, followed by a muffled crash. "Looks like it's up to them to decide." Kanan said to his new ally.

"Unlikely. The only means I can calculate is to destroy the enemy Titan and obtain the battery. You may use the Rodeo manoeuvre. It has been proven to be effective by my programmers." Replied VT, who was reloading its missile pods and training it towards the incoming Titan transport.

"What is the Rodeo manoeuvre?" Kanan asked. "It is a trick introduced by a twi'lek pilot of the Saber Corps. By using your jumpkit you can hop onto the auxiliary battery slot of a Titan and take it for yourself. Some pilots also throw explosive weapons into the slot. It's not exactly the same, but similar." VT explained to Kanan.

A salvo of missiles emerged from the shoulders of the friendly Titan as Kanan scanned the area for the hostile mech. The projectiles adjusted their course and hurtled towards the white dropship, followed by a grey and crimson explosion from the sky, sending the ship plummeting to the ground in flames.

"Enemy Titan spotted. Unknown class. Get ready pilot." Said VT as a silhouette emerged from the ridge and slid down towards the two of them.


	2. Chapter 2: Vesta

"Vesta"

Unknown desert region

400 miles from Angel City, planet Cerberus

The round eyed Titan opened up on Kanan and VT with its 40mm cannon, slowly depleting VT's shields and forcing Kanan to dash sideways. He knew VT wasn't going anywhere until he can get to the top of the hostile Titan and steal its spare battery, and time was running out for both of them.

"Enemy Titan spotted. Chassis number VT-01." Announced the Titan as it slammed onto the plain just meters in front of VT-01, its gun aimed at VT and ready to kill the prototype any moment. Kanan took a deep breath and double jumped into the air, with his trajectory intersecting with the enemy Titan's and breaking its lock.

"Warning. Enemy pilot detected." The Titan said as Kanan gripped firmly on the antenna stretching out of the top of the it. It spinned itself left and right desperately, in hope of sending the pilot flying, But Kanan had an iron grip, and he proved to be more than a challenge for the imperial pilot.

After half a minute of being thrown around and barely missing the Titan's Salvo rockets, Kanan finally managed to hop onto the top of the Titan and grab hold on its spare battery, igniting electric sparkles from inside the Titan.

"VT, catch!" Kanan shouted as he threw the battery towards the crouching Vanguard Titan. VT's SERE kit lifted, allowing it to detect the incoming Titan battery and catch it with its faulty(since it only had two batteries)right arm. "Power at full capacity. Engaging Guard mode." It announced as the enemy Titan moved in towards its position.

The hostile mech raised its tracker cannon and tried to slam it down VT's chassis. But with a third battery in place, VT was now able to move its limbs no problem. Its thrusters warmed up, pushing the 40 ton chassis upwards and blocking the strike with its arms.

"Protocol 2: Uphold the mission. Objective: Destroy the enemy Titan." VT said calmly and launched a sidekick into the white and red Titan's hips, sending it flying backwards and kicking up the sand behind it. With the stolen cannon now VT's, it aimed at the recovering Titan and fired its explosive rounds at a slow but deadly rate, shredding the hostile Titan piece by piece.

The Titan sat on the ground, its chassis flaming at its pilot's blood flowing down his body. Its Salvo rockets tried to activate itself and return fire to the Vanguard, but with both the pilot and the Titan's datacore out of action, it twitched randomly and eventually collapsed to the ground. "Enemy Titan down. Thank you for your help. Pilot" Declared VT.

"Class: Tone. Weapon: 40mm tracker cannon, tracer rockets. Defense: particle..." The newborn Titan babbled on until Kanan gestured it to keep its loudspeaker shut. "Yeah, tell me that later. What the hell was that?" Kanan asked with his left arm akimbo and his right pointing at the remains of the Tone Titan.

"I was going to explain it to you, pilot. Class: Tone..." Replied VT. "Arrr...I mean its affiliation. I keep seeing the word IMC on these imps, and on this Titan. Who is the IMC?" Kanan growled and returned, annoyed by the prototype Vanguard's programming.

"Forgive me pilot." VT lowered its volume and apologised. "The IMC is a private military contractor, often associated with the Galactic Empire. They are also responsible for our losses during operation Fracture." It explained.

"I am detecting more life signatures approaching. They might be the Cerberus. I suggest you embark, pilot." Said VT. Kanan hesitated. _How am I supposed to link with this guy when I can't even see clearly?_ "Are you sure? I mean I can just handle those wolves on the ground." He denied.

"Possible. But my chassis can protect you without having to initiate Neural-link. Hop in." VT insisted, and opened its hatch on the front of its chassis, gesturing Kanan to step on. "Alright. You win." Kanan threw his hands in the air and jumped onto the seat of the Vanguard.

VT caught a Cerberus in its palm as the wild beast lunged towards the Titan. The mech didn't even bother to scan the predator in its hands, and simply squeezed it until it burst open, sending its interior splatting on VT's chassis. All Kanan could do was sit on the pilot seat and watch his new partner kill off the Cerberus with its acolyte pods, since he hasn't even started his Neural-link with it and it was fulling capable of countering a few hounds, despite its lack of human sense.

"All hostiles eliminated." VT said after a few minutes of compressing and blowing up Cerberuses. "Pilot, there is a VR function in your helmet. It can help you heal your eye injuries." It continued. "Sure. I'll do that." Replied Kanan as he toggled his helmet.

"I understand the annoyance of explaining all enemy types to you. I will simply display the enemy type while you're engaging." Suggested VT. The Titan marched away from the what's left of the IMC camp, vibrating the ground beneath Kanan. He didn't answer, though, for he was drowned in his own memories during Demeter.

And that's how they spent the night. With Kanan drifting in and out of consciousness and VT babbling on and on like there's no tomorrow.

* * *

After spending at least half a week inside the chassis of VT, Kanan finally managed to restore his sights, allowing VT's programming to let him step out of the humid seat and stretch his legs. Kanan removed his helmet and blinked. His left eye still stings a little, but unlike before, he could now see and aim clearly.

He landed on the sand on all fours, his CAR strapped on his back horizontally and his helmet hanging on his left hand. VT detached its tracker cannon and rested it on its left shoulder, while getting back on its spiky pads and marching on.

As the two walked towards a rocky mountain in the distance, Kanan's hands got itchy, and was tempted to reach for his knife. Having no reason to stop himself, he drew his 8 inch knife and rotated it with his fingers skillfully, as his teammate Sabine Wren taught him.

It was only one of the vast knife tricks Sabine tried to teach him, all of which originated from her homeworld Mandalore. Kanan sure was glad those people weren't a fan of the IMC's oppression, as VT said a few days ago, because from what he saw when it displayed the Mando's combat footage, every last one of them make excellent pilots, only better when it comes to close quarter combat.

The sand next to him flew off the ground each time VT stomped on the desert floor, leaving a distinct trail behind. "I thought about your name." Kanan finally broke the silence, and the dull regular sound when VT's foot hit the surface. "I'll call you Vesta." He suggested.

VT glued its blue ocular system at him, seemed to be surprised by the nickname the pilot has come up with. "I do no think that's a suitable name. According to Roman mythology, Vesta is a female name. That violates my male programming." It argued.

But Kanan gave no attention to the mech's statement, and insisted on his idea. "Okay. Vesta it is." He returned playfully, ignoring the sweat and dirt crumbs running down his head. "I still object. However, I will not waste my battery arguing with you." VT replied in frustration, knowing that humans, especially SRS, tend to be stubborn.

The following night...

Kanan sat on top of Vesta's tracker cannon, with the corpses of the planet's fauna in front of him. The incendiary grenades the duo recovered in the middle of the desolate land rested next to the Titan weapon, a little rusty but still functional. Kanan's already found plenty of wood and dry leaves to start a fire, but for some reason, his fire starter was somewhat faulty tonight.

"Aw, hell. What's wrong with this thing?" Kanan grumbled. "I do not know. But I have discovered a new function of my Vortex shield that my help." Answered Vesta, who was calibrating his optical fibres buried within his right arm. Kanan looked up to the Titan sitting beside him as he finished his sentence. "Well do enlighten me." He requested.

"Pilot, I recommend you stand back. The effect of this function will result in exposing you to high temperature." Vesta raised his arm and activated his vortex shield, spraying fire towards the wood and igniting it with ease. Kanan removed his gloves and rested his elbow on his crossed legs, while leaning his head forward to exhale warm air into his palms to wait for Vesta to mop up his business.

Once the fire stabilised Vesta stood up while Kanan leaned backwards to get his dinner ready. "I need to stretch my hydraulics." He requested with his usual deep but friendly voice. "No need to tell me." Kanan replied as he moved the corpse attached to one end of a long branch closer to the fire.

"I have a question." Vesta piped up after pacing around for a few seconds. "What is Ryloth?"

Kanan sighed sadly. Ryloth was where his wife was from, and it was occupied by the Empire(possibly the IMC as well) shortly before Fracture. "Ryloth is an outer rim planet not far from the Frontier. It's annexed by the Empire. The last time I was there I was covering the retreat of the 1st Militia fleet. It's also my wife's home." He explained.

Vesta noticed Kanan's apparent sorrow, but he was a Titan, and Titans were never capable of understanding emotion. "Noted." He simply replied as he continued to throw balls of flame towards the fireplace.


	3. Chapter 3: I Got Good Tone

"I Got Good Tone"

Approaching Angel City

Planet Cerberus

Kanan stood between two boulders, with VT-01(or Vesta, as he usually called) on a ridge that protruded out of the rocky slope behind him. He stared at the obliterated moon, wondering what exactly caused such a giant satellite to lost a big chunk of its surface.

"There's a settlement that links to the Angel City on the other side of the jungle below. We should move." Vesta raised his cylinder-shaped arm and pointed at a shroud of fog in the distance. "Humanity at last! I gotta call the Militia fleet when I get there." Kanan exclaimed in relief.

"However, there may be IMC presence in that town, and scans indicate your wound will no longer hinder our combat efficiency. We can now establish a neural link." The Vanguard Titan continued as his hatch popped open, releasing some white gas in the process. "Please embark when ready."

Kanan smiled, and placed his helmet on his head, activating its systems and igniting the illumination of the face of the helm. "Glad to know that." He commented as he hopped of the rocks and onto VT's hand, which rotated and dropped him onto the pilot seat inside his chassis. The hatch closed as Kanan reached for the safety straps behind him.

"Protocol 1: Link to pilot. Establishing neural link." Vesta broadcasted and brightened the pilot seat with a series of green lights and beams. Kanan narrowed his sight as one of the beams passed by his eyes. A few seconds later the lights went back to normal and he felt a twitch in his veins. "Neural link established. Staff sergeant Kanan Jarrus, you are now confirmed as official pilot of VT-01." He continued.

"It's Vesta." Kanan smiled evilly. VT was too busy spilling out his protocols to answer. "Protocol 2: Uphold the mission. Reach the Angel City. Protocol 3: Protect the pilot." He said. "Recalibrating Vortex shield. The controls are located on your left arm. Hold down the button to activate it and release it to launch any captured objects back at the enemy. I recommend you test all the functions before proceeding."

Kanan instantly felt his arm being stressed into a silver tube filled with optical fibres and wires. A control stick popped out in front of the tube, revealing the switch of the Vortex shield. He gripped on the stick and pushed the button down, emitting a blue dome in front of him.

"Pilot, the Acolyte pod is online. This shoulder mounted rocket pod will lock onto multiple targets. Hold down the button located on your right arm to lock on and release it to fire. The longer you hold down the button, the more locks you can achieve." Stated VT as another stick popped out from where Kanan's right arm was rested.

Kanan reached the stick for testing, but before he could do so he was cut off by VT. "I am detecting enemy warships entering the atmosphere. They appear to be IMC forces. We must save ammo. Primary weapon control and Motion-link reestablished." Kanan looked up to the skies and noticed the clouds becoming darker as an IMC battleship emerged from the sky. "Oh...damn. That's a lot of Titans to deal with." He commented.

"Agreed. We must move into the jungle. Marking your HUD." Returned VT as a yellow and white blotch with a line appeared inside Kanan's helmet. He stepped his legs forwards, and in a moment's notice, VT was sliding down the hill and into the tree line.

* * *

It has been almost 2 hours since Kanan completed his neural link with Vesta. He has disembarked moments ago, saying he doesn't want to stay inside the chassis of a Titan for too long. VT agreed, under the condition that he should embark immediately if they encounter any IMC forces.

A muffled bang caught Kanan and VT's attention as the two of them advanced towards the suburb of the Angel City, now separated into districts with walls that stretched as high as 2 kilometres. "Warning. Enemy Titan approaching. Ronin class." VT declared seconds later.

Kanan scanned the area cautiously, and noticed a T-shaped helmet moving past them slowly. "Enemy pilot. Hit the deck!" He whispered instinctively, but then he realise his teammate was a 40 ton Titan, rather than a squad of Riflemen or pilots. "Don't worry. I got your back." Vt said as he primed his 40mm tracker cannon, gaining the attention of the corpulent Ronin pilot just dozens of yards away.

The pilot double jumped towards VT, not knowing he was affiliated to the Militia. He reached for the earbud of his helmet and activated his radio. "This is Tau two to IMS Thermopylae, I've located a unknown..." Almost instantly Kanan jumped from his hiding spot and pulled his knife on the pilot.

The ronin pilot countered his attack by raising his right arm, sending sparks flying between them as their blades flew past each other. Kanan turned his attention on the pilot's back and struck his jumpkit with his free arm. The pilot launched his forearm into Kanan's helmet again, but this time he was able to blow his shoulder and attack his stomach, rendering the pilot out of action as VT continued to fight the Ronin's enormous sword.

VT finally got an opening when he successfully shoved the white Titan onto the ground. He angrily snatched its sword and planted it into its lightly armoured chassis, shattering the exit hatch and killing its datacore. He blinked playfully, seeming to show off his kill to the SRS pilot.

"Nice." Kanan simply replied and resumed his walk towards the Angel City, outside VT's chassis. "What...this looks familiar." Kanan said as he bent down on the now dead IMC pilot and detached a forearm mounted device from him. VT stared at the device, and sprayed a series of beams from his ocular system. "Designation: Grapple. Function: Quick manoeuvring. You might have used it during pilot training." Returned the Vanguard-class Titan.

Kanan nodded while clipping his newly found device to his forearm, after nicking a piece of arm guard from the corpse of the IMC Titan. The forearm plate was spray painted in white with signs of dirt on its surface and slight rust on the metal parts. Kanan hated red, especially when it's painted on an imperial war machine. So he sure was glad the arm guard was an exception.

He shifted his attention to the downed Ronin Titan after donning the armour piece. "You know, my wife used to love this kind of Titan. It's a little weak, but fast and agile, like Usian Bolt." He said to the expressionless green Titan. But surprisingly, VT stared back at him, like he was interested to know more about Kanan's wife. "Usian Bolt was one of the most remarkable sportsman in mankind history. You may be right. The Ronin Titan is capable of achieving to a top speed of over 50 kilometres per hour." Vt replied, seeming to be excited.

"She started off training herself with a Northstar, cuz she's a fan of flying. But she ended up tired of camping and sniping at the back of the battlefield." Kanan added as the two of them continued to march on. Being curios was never a machine's trait, but VT's self-learning programming was a ground-breaking experiment, one that made him eager to learn new things that isn't already stored inside his datacore. "So what did she do?" He asked.

"So she switched for another Titan, a Ronin. Her Titan was one of the very few Titans in the Militia that can fly. She was an ace back then, 23 bird kills and 35 Titan takedowns, before Demeter happened." Kanan sighed. As he spoke more of his wife's flashbacks emerged and practically flooded his mind.

VT may be a machine, but he still knows messing with someone's family violates his protocols. So he remained silent, as the duo headed forward.

Without warning a second wave of attackers fired a barrage of bullets into Kanan, barely missing the pilot and lodging themselves into the log behind him and VT. Kanan's pilot instincts kicked in as he instantly dashed up the log and ran to the other end of it, with VT following close behind. Kanan was about to get off the log when he heard a buzz from his attackers, and seconds later he noticed VT's arm burned by another Titan, who had its Laser Core fully charged and decided to use it against the prototype Vanguard.

Despite the paint he lost, VT remained calm and tossed one of the three incendiary grenade the two of them salvaged towards the enemy Titan and Spectre, delaying them. With the help of the blast from the Ion Titan, he swiftly caught Kanan in his hand and threw him towards the hostile group, leaving Kanan screaming as he hastily fired his grapple at an enemy Spectre, sending the bot flying and allowing VT to shred it with his tracker cannon.

The Ion Titan drew its Splitter rifle and lit up on Kanan as he slid towards its chassis, forcing him to lower his body and pass right between its legs. The hostile Titan was surprisingly better that the rest of the lowlifes hired by the Empire and the IMC, though, and it quickly turned around, with its orange rifle and precision laser turret trained at him.

But as it took the shot, a large jolt from behind knocked the blast off course, and sent the Titan tumbling off balance. The Titan tried to return fire on VT, but was stopped when he activated his Vortex shield and absorbed the shots from its Splitter Rifle. "I am engaging a hostile Ion Titan. This Titan is noted to be particularly deadly, I suggest you embark, Pilot!" Requested VT as he continued to fistfight the Titan with a custom paint job, one that contrasted with the usual dull grey that was commonly used on the Empire's machines.

Kanan sprinted for VT's chassis, and leaped into the air when VT gained an opening and rendered the Ion Titan struggling to maintain its balance. He was about to miss VT's narrow chassis and land on the ground face first, but was caught by VT's squeezing arm and returned to his pilot seat, where VT transferred control to Kanan and allowed him to fight the Ion Titan in his own ways.

The Ion thrusted forward and bashed VT with its rifle, but VT's durability was more than enough to take a hit like that. He returned with a kick on the Ion's stomach, and launched a volley of rockets into the Titan, barely missing its ocular systems.

It slid backwards, and was preparing for a counterattack with its rifle, but Kanan was one step ahead of it, and fired everything that's still inside the magazine of the tracker cannon. "Unh! Not bad for your first day, Pilot." The Ion Titan mocked, as it was programmed to do to any Militia personnel.

Normally VT would've searched for Kanan service record in less than a second and prove the Ion Titan wrong. But since it was indicated as hostile on his HUD, he wasted no time to do so by activating his Salvo core, punching holes into the Ion Titan and eventually destroying it.

"Enemy Titan down. Good work pilot Jarrus." VT stated. "We still have a fair distance to go. I recommend you disembark to salvage useful parts."

Kanan raised three fingers and opened the hatch. And with a little help from his jumpkit, he safely landed on the spiky surface. As the Ion Titan continued to burn in flames, Kanan reached for its emergency punch-out and opened its hatch, allowing him to drag the body of the pilot out.

On his scorched vest lay a silver Wingman Revolver with a wooden grip, a sidearm that allowed him to deal massive damage, compared to his standard issued P2016, which was tiny and only good for moving around quickly. He also found a few spare quick loaders on his waist and a helmet radio on the earbud of his helm. VT crouched, and examined the radio before Kanan placed it on his helmet.

"An IMC radio. It is currently safe to be installed on your helmet. This will be very useful for our mission. Nice work." Commented VT as his blue beams ran along the surface of the radio. "Got it. We should go. I'm willing to bet with my salary half the IMC are gonna be here." Replied Kanan as he pushed the radio into the empty slot on the side of his helmet. His HUD glitched and displayed a series of burst feeds, and it didn't stop until it finished decrypting the IMC radio.

"Warning. Multiple Titanfall detected, and I have only three rounds left. It looks like we'll have to go through a rough fight." VT said and raised his cannon. "Hera's gonna laugh like crazy if she knows how scared I am. This is like a piece of cake to her." Answered Kanan.

"I do not believe a Titan is edible." VT returned, as literal as he always was. "But on the contrary, your wife will be proud of you."


	4. Chapter 4: Chopper

Author note: Vesta and VT are the same Titan.

* * *

"Chopper"

Approaching Angel City

Planet Cerberus

"Oh bloody hell!" Kanan screamed as he slid under Vesta's chassis, barely missing the massive thermite fired by an IMC Scorch-class Titan. The green corrosive trail of smoke went past him just a few inches off his nose, alerting Vesta that he must convince Kanan to get inside his chassis. He lowered his arm and caught Kanan when he reached his under-carriage, securing him and allowing Vesta to return him to the pilot seat.

"Transferring control to pilot." VT announced and deployed the arm controls to Kanan. He angrily launched VT's arm forward and tore the hatch off the enemy Titan, rendering the Pilot inside vulnerable to Kanan's eventual execution.

He grabbed the pilot, and threw him across the jungle while using his legs to allow Vesta to launch a kick into the unmanned Scorch, sending it flying and landing on its back. "Enemy Titan down." Said VT. "However, there is no time to rest. A Tone Titan is approaching. This may be our opportunity to gain ammo. I suggest you disembark and disable its reactor by conducting a Rodeo Manoeuvre."

"If you say so." Kanan replied as he armed himself with an R201, the upgraded and repainted version of the standard issue R101. Both were surprisingly powerful, considering its rounds were only the side of a pistol bullet. "I'm no expert when it comes to Titans." He continued.

"You will become one if we survive this." Returned VT. "Good luck." He wished as he opened his hatch and jettisoned Kanan out of his chassis and towards the incoming Tone Titan. But so did the hostile Titan, and the two pilots engaged in a deadly fistfight while Vesta tackled the Tone Titan.

The blade of the Tone Pilot left a scratch on Kanan's helmet, only fuelling him even more. He bent his leg and gave the enemy pilot's guts a good beating, allowing the Militia pilot to eventually flip and finish him off with two revolver rounds. He never bothered to turn back to see Vesta do the same, throwing the Titan above his shoulder and ripping its chassis with his acolyte rockets.

But as Vesta did so a series of deep and trembling thumps gained Kanan's attention, so as Vesta's. _I might've really pissed them off._ Kanan thought as the sight of a squad of Titans of different variations that only VT could tell, led by a repainted Scorch Titan with a set of yellow jaws painted on its hatch, landed in front of him and caused a few trees to collapse. Vesta glanced at his weapon, and so did Kanan after VT gave him a wink.

Soon Kanan found himself aiming at Vesta's last thermite laying just beside the Titan shooting squad, and after moments of hesitation and uncertainty, he pulled down the trigger. And that was all he remember before the explosion that came later knocked him out cold.

Flashback

Kanan felt the gentle breeze running past his cheeks. His pilot helmet was a helpful tool all right, but nothing felt better than breathing fresh air after a rough battle. He stared at the sky as the sun went down slowly, with a whole firebase of Militia soldiers and battleships parked behind him, leaving him far away from the Militia's paperwork, for now.

The sun going down painted the sky in a bright orange, mixed with purple higher above the sun. There were little pillars of rocks on the plain in front of Kanan, and the view was really worthy to take a picture of it, if it wasn't wartime and if Kanan even owned a camera.

He noticed a twi'lek Militia fiddling with an EVA-8 shotgun, about a few yards away from him. Out of curiosity he walked up to the twi'lek and peeked over her shoulder to see what she's up to. She had green skin and wore a visor on top of her grey headdress and a brown combat vest with several pouches in different sizes. She also had a pair of police trousers(at least that's what Kanan saw) with kneepads sewn on them. And unlike most other Militia soldiers, she didn't wear anything to protect her elbow or forearm, and instead just left them exposed between her white t-shirt's sleeves and dark gloves.

"Can I help you?" Kanan asked casually after noticing her shotgun seemingly jammed. She turned around, and her appearance made Kanan's heart skip a beat. _She's probably the cutest girl I've ever met...and...a Militia that goes against her planet's common proverb? Damn!_ He was almost zoned out, but his pilot training had that covered, and he managed to hold back his urge.

"Yeah. My weapon seems broken down. I was wondering if you can help." She replied wearily. Apparently the previous battle in the suburbs of Nabat has been rough for everyone. "Let me take a look." Kanan requested and took the full-auto shotgun from her. he knew he was only in the Saber Corps for a week, but he still was a firearms expert, and from his past experience and mishaps before he knew the EVA-8 was always a faulty weapon, especially when one wants to clean it.

He gripped on the shotgun's priming handle and pulled it back as hard and fast as he can, sending the jammed shell inside flying out of the chamber and landing on the ground. "There. You do need a little more strength to prime it." He said and returned the weapon to the twi'lek.

"Thanks. May I ask you something? It might...scare you, though." The twi'lek asked. Since when did a question scare me? Kanan thought, and decided to hear her story.

"A pilot? Like...a Titan pilot?" Kanan exclaimed after a few minutes, completely caught off guard about the twi'lek's dream of becoming one of the most dangerous warriors in the Frontier. "Yes. I'm done with just sitting around and watch the IMC rob from our planet." She replied.

"The answer...is complicated. Technically we can train you no problem, but I doubt if my commanders will let you in. Besides... we don't have twi'lek helmets." Kanan decided to spill the hard truth, which she didn't take too well. "But I'll help you ask anyway." He added.

"What's your name, by the way." Out of all the things he could have said, he just had to ask this one.

"Hera. My name is Hera." Replied the twi'lek.

Reality

Kanan lay flat on the ground, just like the day he crashed on the home of the notorious Angel City, also the place where he grew up. Hera knew that well, and like Kanan and many pilots in the Saber Corps, she made it her mission let the walls separating the city into districts to fall into pieces during her times as Kanan's student.

VT was nowhere in sight, even though his bulking chassis should allow Kanan to see him clearly. He managed to recalibrate his helmet and clear his visual, after about a million failed tries that almost burned his arm. The first thing he did afterwards was raising VT, but there was no response.

"This is staff sergeant Kanan Jarrus to Vesta. Do you copy, over? VT-01, do you copy?" He tried again, but still nobody answered.

The only good news he could see was that he was only a dozen miles away from the edge of Angel City by then, and he decided to leg it after confirming that Vesta was officially MIA. The only thing VT left for him was a Mirage ability in his suit, which allowed him to create a moving replica of himself to confuse his enemies.

His plan was to alert the Militia forces of VT's disappearance, and hope they would send reinforcements to recover the Titan before the IMC does. He knew technically he failed his mission, but judging the time he passed out, there really wasn't anything he could've done for VT. From this point on, his only hope was to march on.

Another hour later he finally made it out of the jungle, but there was another problem waiting for him ahead. The fog has rendered the visibility well below normal, and Kanan was forced to rely on his luck to find a communication system lying around.

He scanned the terrain with his helmet, and noticed something weird sticking out of the mass of buildings and electric cables. _It seems to be a Ronin Titan._ He thought, and without even thinking twice he made his way to its location, while being on the lookout for an IMC ambush.

The fog only got heavier as he approached the Ronin Titan pained in orange stripes instead of red. The IMC insignia was gone, and was replaced by what seems to be the symbol of Kanan's own corps. A human skull with two lightsabers intersecting each other on it.

 _A Saber Corps Titan?_

He knew he had to investigate about this Titan, and before he knew it he was sprinting to the Ronin Titan, completely forgetting about the possible IMC presence. The Titan had its sword planted on the ground with its right arm, and as a result he had to climb up its left leg to get to the top of it. And as he did he noticed the battery inside the Titan's only battery slot was no longer glowing in green. The Titan wasn't even muttering, it simply remained in its position, completely ignoring Kanan's presence.

He growled in frustration, and scanned the area again for a power source for him to locate a battery. Soon a blue flash appeared off the right of his helm, and with no time to waste he double-jumped off the Titan's chassis, and searched for the battery he desperately needed.

The urban terrain he was in right now was a huge benefit to his parkour training, as he could simply wallrun and jump across streets to where the battery rested. And in a moment's notice, he found himself inside a warehouse, with its power down and the battery sitting inside a transparent case as the only luminous object inside the room.

He raised his revolver and fired the last rounds into the glass, shattering it, and allowing him to access the battery. He swiftly clipped it onto his hip, and ran back to the Ronin Titan, where he could contact the Militia forces.

After minutes of double-jumping and wallrunning, he made his way back to the Ronin without a hitch. Everything seemed to be going well so far, besides the fact that VT was lost, and that he might get demoted for being unable to protect the prototype Vanguard-class Titan.

With lots of doubts in his mind, he slipped the battery into the slot, activating the light but deadly Titan. It seemed to be as dazed and confused as Kanan first woke up when he crashed on Cerberus, and grabbed Kanan by the guts and was ready to break his bones.

Kanan shrieked, but the Ronin Titan didn't respond to his pleadings until Kanan's pilot uniform identified himself as part of the Frontier Militia. "What is your name?" The Titan asked, with its sword now removed from the ground and ready to bring down on Kanan's head any moment. "I'm Kanan Jarrus, Saber Corps. Will you please just stand down?" He asked fearfully and raised his arms in the air.

"Calm down pilot. I wasn't going to kill you. I just didn't know...you're my mission." The Titan finally disengaged its sword and slid it onto its back. It stood up straight, and all of a sudden it seemed a lot larger than it is. "Your mission?...What are you talking about?" Kanan's voice turned from fear to confusion. He's had enough with surprises from Titan for one week, and he really doubted if he could pull this one off.

But then the Titan said something that made Kanan's eyes water. "My serial number is C1-10P. You may call me Chopper."


	5. Chapter 5: Militia

"Militia"

Angel City

Planet Cerberus

"My serial number is C1-10P. You may call me Chopper."

The fog around the Ronin-class Titan even more of a badass. The sleek sword on its back, and wings with thrusters that could fold and open like eagles...it's practically every pilot's dream. The only blot in the horizon was the tech level on one person to complete such

Kanan slowly removed his helmet, his eyes still glued at the Titan, Hera's Titan, to be precise. He doesn't know much about his wife's customised Titan, but it sure knows Kanan well. "Protocol 2: uphold the mission. Recover original pilot." Chopper broadcasted, ignoring the surprised Kanan standing less than 5 meters away from his chassis.

"I...thought you were destroyed on Demeter." Kanan stammered. "Not exactly. I..." Kanan cut the Titan off before it could finish its sentence. "Tell me what you know about Hera Syndulla." Requested a desperate Kanan.

"Captain Hera Syndulla was my original pilot. She linked with me 533 days ago, just before operation Fracture. She was declared KIA by the Frontier Militia, but I do not believe such a statement." Chopper rolled its ocular eyeball as Kanan secured his helmet under his armpit, carefully listening to its theory.

"Her last orders were to protect you and assist you when necessary, and ultimately help you bring down the walls of the Angel City." Chopper's tone was plain and quite dull too, especially if one has been working with bots for long periods. But it didn't stop Kanan from remembering his wife.

Kanan opened his mouth, but was completely unable to say anything, and had no other choice but to allow Chopper to continue. "Over the last nine months I have been trying to locate and recover my original pilot, and I have traced her to this planet. However, your appearance is not expected."

Chopper again adjusted its artificial eye before activating its vocabluator again. Its sights were never the best of all the Titans in the Militia, since improvised materials and random scraps pieced together by a twi'lek alone never come with absolute guarantees, and its ocular system just happened to the rather faulty parts of its chassis. "What brings you to this planet? The last time I saw you you're a Militia SRS, just like Hera."

"And I still am. They were building a prototype Titan, and I was part of the escort team." Chopper couldn't help but blink in disbelief. _No wonder the IMC's all over Cerberus._ "Is my audio receptor still functional? A prototype Titan?" The white and orange mech asked.

"Believe it or not, it is. The first and only Titan we didn't steal from the IMC. Damn good that thing, and now the IMC wants it so badly they're hiring mercenaries." Kanan replied quickly, knowing well just how much danger the Apex Predators were, those Titans he and Vesta tried to blow up before they get separated.

"I am detecting incoming IMC forces. I am sorry, but I cannot jeopardise your mission because of my mission. I will hold them off, and...I hope you can find Hera before I do." Warned Chopper as it whipped out its repainted XO16 from its hip and aimed the rifle at the skyline, on the lookout for the IMC ships descending to the surface. And when it did, its burst feed calculated that a secure connection was essential for Kanan to make it out in one piece.

"I will try to help you contact the SRS while I proceed. Until we meet again." Chopper sprinted into the fog, but not without leaving something nifty behind for its pilot's husband. Kanan bent down and picked up the green and silver object as explosions and fireballs erupted in the distance. What he's holding was something he's craved for his whole career: a MK5 smart pistol, with bullets that could automatically home in on a hostile without the user having to aim too precisely.

Its barrel was longer than most sidearms that Kanan used in the Gauntlet or in actual combat, with a flashlight pre-installed in front of the trigger. But a flashlight was only what it looked like, it was the locking systems, the essential part of the weapon that made it every soldier's favourite.

Kanan had already mastered it too well to bother looking over it. All he did was hastily turn off the safety, and the next thing he knew, he was sprinting off into the fog, in search of a way to the centre of the Angel City. He never trusted a machine enough to fall for one of its crazy theories, but if Hera trusts this big deal, then I guess I can trust it too.

* * *

A rifleman with words that spelled ' ' on his helmet and his squad fired frantically at the IMC forces they couldn't even see clearly with their CAR sub-machine guns, and as the incoming fire intensified, most of them were forced to duck. A rocket flew towards them and made contact with a building besides them, sending concrete debris crashing down in front of them.

But that was far from over, rockets and missiles flew endlessly towards them, getting closer to their exact position every time. And before he knew it, the series of explosions reached the barricade they're camping behind, and sent him flying at the dirt behind him.

As the rifleman who named himself Cooper blacked out Kanan sprinted into the battlefield, learning that Vesta awaits inside the RAS James MacAllan miles above him. "Where's VT?" It was the first thing he ever wanted to ask when he heard the voice of his CO, commander Sarah Briggs. What she replied was a huge relief to him. "He's been recovered in the jungle, thanks to your help, for what I hear. There's only one complication."

"What kind of complication?" Kanan activated his jumpkit and thrusted himself forward as he spoke, while grabbing a sonar grenade from his waist and tossing it onto a collapsed wall. He touched down moments later, and almost instantly the ticks underground were triggered and lit up like a christmas tree. He hopped on one of them, slid underneath a fireteam of IMC troopers, and eventually approached a Spectre accompanied by two more IMC grunts.

He grumbled and drew the aimbot-assisted sidearm and quickly dropped two grunts, and trusted upwards to allow him to takedown a third. The Spectre tackled him, but Kanan's anger and anxiousness ended up making the hydraulics and muscle pistons of the Spectre look like a toy getting trashed around, with him grabbing his vest and tossing the bot at a destroyed concrete wall.

A fourth grunt approached with an R-97 in his hands, giving Kanan a length to perform another takedown and giving him enough momentum to launch a side kick at the Spectre chassis, shredding its circuits and paralysing it. Seconds later yet another oblivious trooper ran up to him, only to allow Kanan to extend his knife into his stomach.

Kanan hurriedly scanned the surroundings for a possible Titanfall, but that meant going through the half-collapsed building in front of him, with additional grappling and wallrunning to get him to his objective. But as he did the HUD of his helmet started ringing like an alarm clock: incoming missiles, launched from a nearby IMC Titan.

He fired his cable at a wall, allowing him to ascend up the wall upon the missiles' impact and avoid the piercing rounds from its XO-16 rifle. He dropped off at the other end, and shattered the glass as he boosted off the wall. He rolled forward, reorientated himself, and finally dropped yet another trooper with his pistol upon spotting him.

His instincts urged him to breach into the door next to him, in which he did, but not without testing out hit Mirage system. "VT-01, did briggs allow you to give me a hand?" Kanan asked nervously. "Affirmative. I am now aboard the RAS James MacAllan, you may call me when in position." Replied the recharged and reloaded Vanguard Titan.

As Kanan kicked the doors down he found himself stuck inside with a pair of IMC grunts, which he finished off with a few bursts from his pistol. He relentlessly grabbed the body of the second grunt and shot every IMC bot and personnel with his locking pistol and the body as cover, leading him to the end of the hallway and giving him room to throw the body through the wall, shattering his spine and possibly his organs as well.

"Vesta, drop in on the field north of my location. Hurry!" The orange CAR of the IMC still hanged from the side of his uniform, allowing Kanan to utilise it against the pair of grunts that fell for his mirage while yelling at Vesta. He sprinted out of the building through the shattered window, hoping that VT got the description of the drop zone correct.

"Standing by for Titanfall."

Upon impact the Titan was instantly bombarded by machine gun rounds by IMC infantry, but that did not stop Kanan from leaping out of the window and into VT's chassis. The silver tubes for the arm control locked on his forearm faster than ever, as Vesta's shield level was now dangerously low. His burst feed suggested Kanan to activate his Vortex shield, which set Kanan into an ultimate rage as he bent his arm, allowing VT to power up the shield as his right arm started glowing in blue.

The bullets and projectiles fired by the infantry in front of the duo were caught in the force field, but almost immediately an Archer rocket punched a dent on VT's arm, heating Kanan's blood even more. The raged SRS pilot closed his eyes and shouted out, and to VT's surprise, he managed to release all the rounds he caught into the soldiers on his right flank, killing them instantly, and sending the remains of their floor collapsing.

All of a sudden Vesta realised that Kanan didn't need his eyes to fight like a beast, as he proved it when a Scorch Titan armed with an XO-16 ran up to them and slammed its fists on the ground. To Vesta's surprise not only did Kanan not flinch or dash out of the way, but ran _through_ the debris like it was just dust, while still yelling inside his chassis.

 _I might have to check Kanan's condition when I reach the Angel City._

Kanan angrily forced the barrel of the Scorch's rifle upwards, and unleashed his machine gun upon the much heavier Titan's guts, depleting its battery and allowing him to knock the powerless Titan down with the bottom of his weapon.

But just when it seemed that Kanan reigned victorious, Vesta's audio receptor detected a loud thud behind him. He rotated his body and adjusted his ocular system, only to find a Ronin Titan getting off its knees and raising its sword to a ready stance.

 _VT-01 combat burst feed: Ronin Titan sighted. Status: taunting._

 _Appropriate emotion: angry._

VT found it hard to believe, but he was actually 'pissed', according to the vocabulary stored inside his datacore. His circuits were heating up, and he was more than eager to help Kanan find his long lost wife. But now there was this pityful Ronin standing in their way.

By then Kanan's rage has rendered him unconscious, forcing VT to transfer control back to himself, as much as it seemed unwise. He tossed his XO-16 aside, after calculating that he'll finish the Stryder remake somewhere not too far away from where he dropped his weapon.

His heavier chassis enabled him to force the Ronin backwards as the two collided, but was forced to back away when he noticed the Ronin's sword coming down on his chassis. He rose his leg up and tried to force Ronin backwards again, but all he could do with that was to buy himself a brief moment of rest.

Cooper finally regained his consciousness, barely missing the Ronin's sword and Vesta's chassis as it swung by overhead and beside Vesta. But right there and right then, a green mechanical fist flew out of nowhere, sending the Ronin rotating aimlessly, and only stopping when it planted its sword on the ground and renewed its grip on its weapon.

As it did VT charged forward, with Kanan drifting in and out of consciousness and Cooper regaining a foothold beside him. Kanan could barely even see what's going on, but Vesta's burst feed did, and he knew he had to win this fight for his pilot, and the Saber Corps.

Cooper exhaled as VT leaped off the ground and the Ronin pacing forward for a counterattack. He didn't know who the hell was inside that Titan he has never seen in his life. _A vigilante, maybe? Or even a mercenary?_ But either way, that didn't stop him from taking a brief rest and watch as the two Titans were about to lay waste on each other.


	6. Chapter 6: One Life Goes

"One life Goes, Another Life Comes"

Residential District

Angel City

Muffled sounds of gunshots and death screams continued to fly past Kanan's ears as he progressed through the streets of the infamous Angel city. He and VT have been searching for C1-10P and Hera for hours, but so far the only thing they even ran into were billboards low enough to disrupt VT-s optics and cars subject to a penalty ticket.

Kanan was about to give up on the residential district and move on when Vesta suddenly broadcasted his discovery inside his chassis. "Hold on pilot Jarrus. I have detected a suspicious thermal signature. Its shape does resembles a twi'lek. I recommend we check it before proceeding to the harbour district." Suggested the Vanguard class Titan.

"If you say so." Kanan replied. "This better not be another random peasant." He muttered under his breath as he stepped on both pedals under his boots, allowing Vesta to stomp forward in a slow but firm pace. Keeping his eyes pinned on the next corner of the street constantly, he cautiously moved VT's chassis closer and closer to the heat signature of the anomaly.

The only noise in the block was from Kanan and VT. _It's too quiet._ Thought Kanan. VT remained silent, as his programming didn't allow him to speak excessively.

"Keep an eye out Vesta. Tell me right away if anyone comes." Kanan ordered and jettisoned himself out of VT's chassis, sending him flying onto the ceiling of the building his HUD led him to. With a solid grip on his semi-auto weapon, he crept past a doorway and headed deeper into the building.

He was eager to shout out and hope for someone to respond, but Angel City was strict hostile territory and Kanan knew it better than any of his squad mates, so he kept his mouth shut. Soon a soft but seemingly agonising moan came out of nowhere, alerting both Kanan and Vesta. "Shit. That doesn't sound good." Commented Kanan.

"I agree. I have picked up a second life signature but its position is...quite...strange." Replied Vesta as he tried to determine the cause of the sudden surge of the suspect's mass. And as much as it's a logical thing to do, Vesta decided not to tell Kanan that, unknown to him, the suspect is probably pregnant.

Kanan was at the second floor when he finally discovered the origin of the heat signature. A seemingly wounded twi'lek sat uncomfortably beside a desk, with both her hands pressing down on her unusually corpulent belly. She was too weak to even mutter a single word, and Kanan found out why after examining her quickly.

 _She's carrying a child, and it's gonna come out any minute now._

"Vesta, I'm gonna be occupied! Contact C1-10P and tell him we need a pickup now!" Kanan ordered sharply and reached for the twi'lek, only ot be stopped when she gripped on his palm tightly, gesturing to be careful with her wounds. "Kanan...Kanan..." She whispered.

"What is it?" The SRS pilot didn't even bother to ask how the twi'lek could say his name out of nowhere, even when he never sprayed his name on his armour or wore a dog tag around his neck. In fact it didn't take a second for him to realise the twi'lek was Hera, his long lost wife. But Kanan was too frightened and worried about her condition to yell out her name in return.

"I'm about...to...deliver..." She muttered in immense pain.

Kanan froze. As a pilot he's trained to handle almost all kinds of cases and injuries one might sustain on the frontline, all except how to safely deliver a child. His child. "Vesta, I need access to some medical files. Can you do it for me?" He shouted.

"As you wish, pilot Jarrus." Replied the Titan as he quickly initialised a search within his programming and protocols, hoping to find something that matches the needs of his companion. But as he did he was interrupted when his comms suddenly fizzed, followed by the audio of an unknown Titan.

"This is VT-10, Militia SRS. Identify yourself." He instinctively demanded and scanned the area once more, as he knows well the process may take up to hours.

"VT-01, this is C1-10P, Saber Corps, Militia SRS. I have detected incoming IMC reinforcements, ETA 20 minutes." Replied the Titan on the other end of the line as VT shifted his optics to the horizon, allowing him to spot a fleet of four IMC capital ships in the distance. "I see them. Unfortunately I cannot move until Kanan's patient has safely delivered her child. Can you reach my position?" He asked, while hastily forming a plan to counter the IMC infantry about to flood all of them out.

He managed to calculate that the ships are going to touch down at the edge of the district and work their way up till every Militia in sight is either dead or captured, block by block, and even though a Titan alone could take down a whole company of IMC troops, a fleet of them was just too much even for a killing machine like him. He decided that he's going to simply defend his position as long as possible, or at least until his new ally decides to answer his plea and come to the rescue.

"I will. However, I must remind you that the odds of the all of us surviving is less than 9.2 percent, in case you haven't already done the math." The Ronin-class Titan responded, and swiftly powered up its hover thrusters to save a few steps. At the same time, he transferred his power to his flight core, which will help utilise his cluster rockets in case he needed them to get his human friend out of a jam.

* * *

"Come on Hera, you can make it!" Kanan said in encouragement as Hera pushed herself even harder to get the job done sooner. It was the most painful moment of her life, probably even more than the time she and Kanan made out sometime before the battle of Demeter, or when she was scorched by the massive explosion there that almost burnt through Chopper and resulted in her getting third degree burns.

She grimaced and held her fists tighter, completely oblivious that the worst wasn't even getting close: the IMC fleet have now reached their landing Zone, and through VT's optics Kanan found out he's already engaged in a David versus Goliath battle against the bulk of the IMC infantry. "Pilot Jarrus, how much longer do you need?" He asked plainly.

"Almost there!" The SRS pilot yelled out in return, while keeping his eyes pinned on Hera to make sure things go smoothly, and hopefully, quickly as well. He needed no Vanguard class Titan to tell him that the IMC were closing in, as the gunfire outside has already told him that.

Moments later he was welcomed by the sight of a soaked infant hybrid lying between Hera's legs. He scrambled for his jacket in his backpack, and carefully picked up the infant and carefully wrapped it. "Is this a boy or a girl?" He asked.

"No idea." Hera panted breathlessly. "I...huh...never checked."

"From its biological appearance and behaviour, I can assume your offspring is a female hybrid of human and twi'lek. Congratulations." VT replied with his same old voice, but at the same time his optics detected something else, something that would kill Hera if it wasn't treated properly on time. "However, I must remind you that your partner has suffered massive external trauma. The chances of her survival is 38% and dropping."

Kanan managed to keep himself from screaming for help and scanned Hera's body hurriedly, only to find a huge patch of red flowing out of her gut. "Sorry...dear, I...guess I wasn't careful...enough...when I...ran into...the IMC..." She stuttered and weakly lifted her hand to grab Kanan's forearm, while all Kanan could do was do his best to hold back his tears about to burst out from within his helmet.

"You look after Angel...I'll...be...watching..." She requested despite the crazy amount of purple liquid flowing out of her stomach and mouth. "...up...there..." Barely able to finish her sentence, her world went blank, for good.


	7. Chapter 7: The Sharpest Saber

"The Sharpest Saber"

Angel City

Planet Cerberus

"HERA!"

Even after half an hour of bloody fighting with IMC Titans and Spectres Kanan still couldn't get over his mental trauma of losing his wife he had just found in the battlefield of Angel City. Yet sleeping in the chassis of his Titan Vesta was his precious child Hera named Angel. Kanan could only guess it was after her birthplace, and nothing more could he think of his family that's shattering.

Nothing was heard from the Militia after Chopper finally came to their aid and fended off wave after wave of attackers with their combined wits. Ammo wasn't a problem for Kanan at the moment, as he managed to get his hands of a splitter rifle which doesn't fire traditional bullets. Instead the contents of each round somehow atomise its target bit by bit, until it goes high up in the sky in flames.

For now Chopper was doing fine on its own, thanks to Hera's aggressive programming she gave him as a precaution. Every street and block was littered with wreckage of Titans and quadlaunchers, but all three Militia units knew too well they're going nowhere like this. They have to run.

Or at least that's what they thought when VT's arm was blew off and when a voice Kanan long missed managed to reach his ears.

"Ezra Bridger, standing my for Titanfall!" The next thing he knew, his screen was covered with dust and concrete. Ahead was the loud clangs of Ezra's older Stryder and the IMC's new Ronin Titan. Although a lot of people questioned Ezra for still sticking with an old model at this day and age, it never shook his belief that even inferior machines could overcome the most difficult of missions.

And once again he proved himself right by snatching the whole of the Ronin's arm and killing it with its own broadsword. "Kanan! You're gonna have to explain later. Sabine's on her way down. We must retreat while we still can!" He shouted and ignited his chaingun, while blocking incoming attacks with the sword in his left arm.

"To where?" Kanan yelled back.

"Out of the city, obviously!" Ezra replied angrily as the adrenaline in him started acting up, washing away his logical sense and making him along with the two Titans go wild. Ezra's stryder launched a barrage of armour piercing rockets towards an incoming Ion Titan decked in asphalt grey, punching off its ocular system and allowing him to kill its pilot without facing resistance at all.

It took him numerous shoves with his Titan to convince Kanan sticking around is a no-go, even if there wasn't a clear extraction plan since the amount of IMC forces on the ground was too much for the Militia to just send down dropships with wires. Chopper's shields were already completely depleted by the relentless assault, and so was Ezra's Stryder.

Fortunately for them Sabine's modified Brute Titan boasted almost twice the firepower than a normal one, with the four rocket barrels of her standard cut into two and skeletonized so they'd fit on the Titan's forearms. On top of that, she programmed both shoulder rocket pods to fire when she needed them to, rather than utilising one only and keeping the other unused most of the time.

"We got a way out of this one?" The feminine voice from the Brute shouted as yet another volley of rockets launched from the pairs of barrels.

"No...but I, no, we'll make a way." Out of everyone fighting to the death in the streets, it had to be Chopper, the Titan with the most dangerous programming of all of its kind. "As my order goes: uphold the mission." He stated sternly, only to be hit by a volley of rockets which dislocated his left arm.

"Militia dropship ETA: 3 minutes." Vesta suddenly blurted out as a warship with a military green hull sped pas the battlefield, while dropping in a flock of Crow dropships from its hangar. Their moral victory didn't last long, a Tone Titan somehow got up close between Ezra and Chopper, and scored a direct hit in Chopper's rectangular eyeball, leaving him collapsing onto the asphalt, unable to do anything but pronounce loosely pieced sentences.

Ezra spinned his Titan's chassis around and returned fire with what's left in his chaingun, only to be forced into a hand-to-hand combat with the hyperactive Tone pilot. He managed to save his skin when his shoulder rockets pummelled the chassis of the Tone Titan, allowing him to move on to the rest about to swarm him.

Soon enough Kanan felt the exterior of VT's chassis being shot at by a set of grappling hooks, followed by a massive pull that lifted his machine sky-high. It was over for him and VT, but as he looked down the sight of Ezra's machine exploding and sending shrapnel flying to their craft shocked him. Another one of his comrade had fallen, next to the wreckage of the courageous C1-10P who died protecting its pilot...and her descendent.

* * *

"Ensign Angel!" A voice called from behind the recently enlisted Pilot. Angel swung her pink lekku as she spinned her head to get a good look on the person summoning her, who was commander Jack Cooper, a war hero of the Militia for destroying a superweapon on a certain planet, or so the story goes. "You're not getting into your Titan yet?" He asked.

"My mom's Titan, to be precise." She corrected and stole a glance at the restored C1-10P, now modified into one of the first prime Titans in the Militia's racks. It still carried the orange stripe that ran along its optics, with pieces of reinforced armour and the disposal of some parts that were deemed useless. Mounted on C1-10P's back was a sword. Not a traditional broadsword, but an enlarged version of an ancient Samurai's primary weapon.

"Well your mom would want you to be on your way, to the last battle against the IMC, if things go right." Said Cooper as he led the ensign to her Titan, which rested next to an enhanced Vanguard class Titan commonly known as a Monarch.

 _To my dad and my mom in heaven, I pray to you to grant me-self, me-comrades of Saber Squadron the courage to ride in a Titan. To protect the lives waiting in our home, to put injustice to rest, to be the vanguard of every rights of a sentient being. Ensign Angel Jarrus Syndulla, standing by for Titanfall. Amen._


End file.
